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I saved a blackbird's life once. He was flying low across the road near my house and I saw him get hit by a car. So I went over to stand in the road and make s
by joe__f 4y ago
I saved a blackbird's life once.
He was flying low across the road near my house and I saw him get hit by a car. So I went over to stand in the road and make sure the other cars coming drove around him, and I picked him up. One of his eyes was bloody where he'd been hit, and he was stunned and very distressed. I kind of just knew what to do, I held him in my hands by the side of the road for a few minutes which I think helped him calm down from the shock, and then he jumped down and sat for a bit when he was ready. I stayed and watched him for a while, but I could tell he'd had enough after a bit so I just left him.
I didn't see him fly away but I don't think his things were broken and he wasn't there the next morning. I guess he probably only had one working eye, I don't know how well birds manage with only one eye. Maybe he didn't make it but I hope he did, and I'm sure he would've been stuck shocked and panicking in the road until he got flattened without my help.
It was cool.
- seunosewa 4y agoI feel bad to have to say that he may have been snacked on by a predator. If he could fly, he would probably have flown while you were there.
- wan_ala 4y agoExcuse my ignorance, but what type of animal would eat a crow?
- tacotime 4y agoA raccoon can definitely kill and eat (part of) a chicken so I’d imagine a crow could be on the menu. Or a coyote. Or a possum or bear. There are vids of deer eating birds and other animals.
- joe__f 4y agoIt wasn't a crow it was a blackbird [1], they're smaller and definitely lower down the food chain. If a fox came by while he was still on the ground it might have eaten him, they don't normally come out in the daytime though [1] https://cdn.birdwatchingdaily.com/2017/06/European-Blackbird-Titchwell.jpg https://cdn.birdwatchingdaily.com/2017/06/European-Blackbird...
- pierrec 4y agoSo I've done a lot of volunteering at a bird refuge (LPO Ile Grande). Birds hit by traffic get something similar to shock and will sometimes recover and fly again just by resting for some time, which can range from seconds to days. Unless they have broken bones, in which case they're toast. So I'd say it's possible that your bird survived. More likely it didn't, but there is hope.
- joe__f 4y agoThanks that's nice to know, I like to think he did make it :) He was lying sprawled out on the road and he seemed to fold in his wings ok after I picked him up, so I guessed they weren't broken
- yamrzou 4y agoI was expecting the end of the story to be that you suddenly met him after after a long time and that he recognized you :(
- joe__f 4y agoAwh yeah, I see quite a lot of blackbirds and I always look out for one with a broken eye. I haven't met him yet, it was back in the summer some time
- radlad 4y agoI once came upon ducks that had been hit in the road. All were dead, but one. It was a similar scene: blood from its eyes, total shock, and it seemed blind. We kept it overnight and took it to an animal rescue in the morning. They kept us updated and let us know a week or two later that it'd fully recovered and had been released. Made us very happy to hear.
- joe__f 4y agoYeah I did think about taking him to an animal rescue centre, in the end he seemed like he didn't want me around any more so I just left him to it, hard to tell I guess